A man has been left with an unexpected phone bill of more than £300 after a three-week hospital stay.
Derek Taylor was recovering in Ashford’s William Harvey Hospital following an eye operation, during which time his wife contacted him via his bedside phone to check on his progress.
The resultant bill – £342 – came as a shock when Mr Taylor, 61, returned to his home in St Mildred’s Close, Tenterden.
He estimates that about £300 was down to the phone line at the hospital, which is run by a separate company.
Mr Taylor, who is registered disabled, said: “I think it is disgraceful that you are ripped off at such an horrendous rate and the hospital know that they are doing this.” He claims that BT insisted that he pay the bill within 30 days.
Since cancelling his direct debit, the company has asked that he pay the sum immediately, which has forced him to dip into his savings.
His wife Mabel made 109 calls to his bedside from April 5 to April 22.
One call, made on April 14, lasted about 16 minutes and cost more than £7.
Horrendous
Mr Taylor said: “As far as I was concerned, it was just charged at the standard.
“I’ve used the phone system before and it hasn’t caused me to have to pay this horrendous amount of money.”
But Frank McCarvill, associate director of facilities for the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The equipment is provided as a service to our patients and every bed in most areas of the hospital has an individual TV, radio and telephone provided.
“There is a clear announcement informing callers of the cost of calls from BT landlines every time they call the individual patient’s dedicated number.
“This service is provided by an independent company and because of the high set up costs the Trust receives no income from the service.”
Emma Littlejohn, spokesman for BT, said: “The charges were correctly applied and were paid promptly by our customer.
“We do advise all customers to take note of the charge of calls to a number they are calling and if a customer is having difficulty paying one bill in full immediately, then contact us to discuss and we will work with them to resolve the issue.”Some content here